Gold-Decorated Carbon Nanotube Network as Contact Surface of MEM Switch for Extended Lifetime

This work demonstrates a highly reliable microelectromechanical (MEM) switch with high switching performance by integrating gold (Au)-decorated carbon nanotube (CNT) network in the contact area. By decorating the CNTs with Au nanoparticles (Au-NPs), we obtained several times extension in the lifetime of the MEM switch with low contact resistance. We verified that the extended lifetime and the low contact resistance originate from the deformable CNTs under mechanical load and the Au NPs with high conductivity at the contact-interface. Our switch also revealed low adhesion force at the contact-interface, which results in highly repeatable and stable actuation voltages at both turn-on and off, whereas typical MEM switches with high adhesion force show irreversible stiction or unstable turn-off voltage. The proposed switch exhibited 1.9 times longer lifetime under hot-switching conditions, compared to previously studied MEM switches based on Au-Au contact.